Inaugural Lecture, Thursday, November 17, 2022
Program
Jessica Sweet ‘12
In 2008 I took World Population Issues with Holly as my First Year Course. At the time, I had no inkling that I would end up working in national security, applying the intellectual frameworks I learned from her course. Sophomore year Holly opened a whole new world for me in GIS, tapping into a passion for blending the art and science of analysis. (Little did I know that this would prompt me to seek a Master’s in GIS & Programming immediately after Mac.) Junior year I served as Holly’s Teaching Assistant for Intro to GIS. Truth be told, I was not her best student, and I struggled with leading teams. Despite this, Holly invested an inordinate amount of time mentoring me in leadership, preparing me for my job today as a manager. When I expressed my interest in joining the government, she offered to introduce her father, (a retired COL) which I gladly accepted. Senior year, when I had to cope with loss, she noticed and asked if I was doing ok…it’s remarkable how much love emanates from Holly and her capacity to heal others.
Simply put, I would not be where I am today had it not been for her. 14 years later, Holly continues to leave an indelible mark on me. Through tours at NGA, the Pentagon, and the Harvard Kennedy School, Holly has been my beacon. A rarity, her dedication to students extends beyond the walls of Mac. She is a cherished gift and should be celebrated by all.
Sivan Tratt 2020
Professor Barcus is an excellent teacher and strikes that hard to reach balance between caring and nurturing towards her students with the right edge of challenging them to reach their full potentials. Even while teaching a class like Intro to GIS which has hundreds of students go through the gauntlet of that objectively difficult course, on the other side, students still feel seen and supported as individuals. I owe that class and Holly a lot personally, as my career has been built within the field of GIS. It was a course I had been dreading as soon as I declared the major, as my whole life I had a narrative about myself that I wasn’t cut out to do anything STEM adjacent or technical. Taking that class with Holly and Ashley I feel like my whole world opened up, and with their support felt that I could in fact struggle through a technical undertaking and not feel like a failure, maybe even dare I say… successful even? While I never got the opportunity to take any other courses with Holly, she always incorporated a scholarly and critical lens to a course like Intro GIS that I appreciated- that it wasn’t just about using software to create maps, or understanding what a projection is, but thinking critically about the narrative power of a map as well as its political positionality. Those are things I bring with me everyday, and questions that endure in importance even beyond the technical takeaways from the course. Thank you for everything, Holly, and congratulations!
Jim Smith 2021
As an advisor, Holly has the distinct ability to support her students through difficult moments with curiosity and calm– a calm that is contagious and often clarifying, even in midst of urgent moments or challenging times. As an FYC instructor, Holly made students feel comfortable at Macalester and equipped to meet high academic expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed being Holly’s TA for her FYC, as she guided me to become a better peer, mentor, and leader for younger students in our department. Finally, as my GIS professor, it was Holly’s insightful lectures that really cemented my love for geography and passion for geospatial problem-solving. These are skills I am proud to carry forward as a healthcare consultant, working to tackle complex issues in a broken system, where the power of a geospatial lens goes under-utilized all too often. Holly’s patience, commitment, and care have made all the difference in my Macalester education and in my life. I am so privileged to be one of many that she has affected so profoundly.